


The Lunch Date

by ChameleonCircuit



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Fluff, M/M, kinda??? is it serious when it ends like that???, mild references to sex i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-02 23:05:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13328322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChameleonCircuit/pseuds/ChameleonCircuit
Summary: As Carmen sat down, he leant forward to peck her on the cheek before heading to Rafael’s office, rapping lightly on the door before opening it.Instantly, the bag of sandwiches he’d been holding for the squad dropped to the floor.“Sonny?” Carmen asked, getting back up from her desk to see what was wrong.The laughter that had not long died down was bubbling up inside her before she could stop it.





	The Lunch Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tobeconspicuous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobeconspicuous/gifts).



> SO if you found yourself here because you like my other works, or you were simply curious, I hope you enjoy this mess.
> 
> Crack ships are apparently my new jam. I blame my co-conspirators, tobeconspicuous, astronaut_milky, barbaesparza, and keraunoscopia - this beautiful mess wouldn't exist without them.
> 
> Extra thanks goes to tobeconspicuous for betaing this, even though it was intended as a gift to her.

Carmen let out an involuntary groan as Mr Barba dropped another stack of manilla folders into her newly emptied in-tray.

 

“They’re not strictly urgent,” Barba added, pausing on his way back to his office, barely-there smile on his face, eyes sparkling with something she couldn’t quite read.

 

“Does that mean I can go, sir?” She asked, glancing at the time on her computer screen. With any luck, if she left right now, she would only be five minutes late.

 

“I’m sure Detective Carisi won’t mind waiting,” he said with a smirk, popping a pretzel into his mouth as he cockily swung back around, continuing into his office.

 

“I’ll be back in an hour, sir!” She called out to him, coat in hand as she hurried out into the hall, bag flailing behind her after she’d tried and failed to hoist it onto her shoulder.

 

* * *

“Hey,” Carmen whispered breathlessly as she came up behind Sonny, pressing a kiss to his cheek before taking her seat across from him.

 

“Hey. Barba overworking you again?” Sonny teased, pushing her glass of water towards her

 

Carmen just rolled her eyes, taking a sip of the water he handed her as she tried to slow her heart rate back to normal. Sonny loved trying to get her to trash-talk her boss. She’d given in, once, while very drunk. All she’d managed was to moan about his sour mood if he doesn’t have coffee at regular intervals, which she then proceeded to try and take back by insulting an array of defense attorney’s instead, which had Sonny’s eyes shining with glee.

 

Despite the long hours, the lack of lunch breaks, and the often dreadful calls she had to field, she loved her job and she loved her boss even more. Underneath his harsh demeanor, he had a heart of gold and he always looked after his staff. There were definitely worse people to work for within the DA’s office.

 

“Alright, alright,” Sonny conceded with an easy laugh, resting back in his chair. “I already know what I want to order.”

 

“Me too.”

 

As he closed their menus and signalled the waiter, she noticed the small, knowing smile on his face and felt a flutter of uncertainty. She always seemed to put her partners off with her need to research a menu ahead of time, and while Sonny didn’t seem put out, she was worried he was laughing at her expense. Which, if she was being completely honest, was worse.

 

Sonny was kind, and sweet, and giving; the very definition of sunshine. He was carefree and easy, and she was practically the opposite. She was hesitant and quiet and over organised -- perfect for the legal world, but less than perfect for the dating world.

 

And before she knew what she was doing, she was voicing this, barely waiting for the waiter to leave before the words were leaving her in a rush.

 

To his credit, Sonny only blinked at her, jaw slack, for a moment before he was smiling, eyes crinkling at the corners, dimples in full force.

 

“Carmen, I love that you’re always prepared, always organised -- it makes up for the fact that I’m  _ never _ prepared. You’ve saved me more times than I can count,” he said with a laugh.

 

She tried to smile, but she wasn’t entirely convinced. Normally, she wouldn’t be bothered. Normally, she had enough confidence in herself to not care. But something in Sonny opened up her desire to please, and to be accepted, and she couldn’t stamp it down.

 

“Hey,” he said softly, leaning in towards her, smile replaced by a gentle frown. “Where’s this coming from?”

 

He angled his head towards her, catching her eyes, and she felt herself giving in before she could stop it.

 

“People tend to deem me ‘cold and controlling’,” she said with a rueful smile.

 

“People are known to be wrong.”

 

She scoffed, like it meant nothing to her, but she felt her heart flutter nonetheless.

 

“I think you’re kind, and funny, and smart, and, I know you don’t think it matters, but I’m gonna say it -- you’re beautiful. You’re stunning. You’re breathtaking. And I love you.”

 

She caught the flicker of hesitation in his eyes, though to his credit, his smile never faltered.

 

“I love you too,” she said gently, like it meant nothing, like it wasn’t the first time they’d said it, even though her heart was beating so fast and so loud she was sure the entire cafe could hear it.

 

But she meant it. She’s said it to herself countless times, unwilling to be the first to say it out loud. 

 

But he’d said it. He’d been scared of rejection, and he’d said it anyway. And the happiness that was bubbling up inside of her was entirely his doing. She hadn’t even realised she was laughing until he was frowning at her, confusion and just a touch of hurt in his eyes.

 

“I’m happy,” she whispered, taking his hand, giving it a squeeze as she watched his face relax into its usual charming smile.

 

Their lunch continued that way; hand holding, laughing, compliments, jokes. Carmen was sure she’d never felt so light and carefree in her life.

 

They held hands the entire way back to her office, Sonny forcing their arms to swing wildly between them every now and again just to elicit both an eye roll and a laugh from her.

 

“Thank you,” she said softly as she dropped her bag on her desk, hoping she sounded as sincere as she felt even though she could still feel laughter pulling at her lips.

 

As she sat down, he leant forward to peck her on the cheek before heading to Rafael’s office, rapping lightly on the door before opening it.

 

Instantly, the bag of sandwiches he’d been holding for the squad dropped to the floor.

 

“Sonny?” Carmen asked, getting back up from her desk to see what was wrong.

 

The laughter that had not long died down was bubbling up inside her before she could stop it.

 

There was her boss, Sonny’s mentor, right in front of them, shirt unbuttoned, hair a mess, pants pooled around his ankles, shoes still on, propped up against his desk, with Trevor Langan pressed up against him in a similar state of undress.

 

All three men were completely frozen, and all she could do was laugh.

 

“Sonny,” she squeaked out between gasping breaths, weakly taking his arm in an attempt to drag him away.

 

As though her voice broke the spell keeping everyone still, Sonny turned away a little as Rafael stood up, pulling his pants up and buttoning his shirt at lightning speed, prompting Trevor to do the same as he turned away, face and chest an almost alarming shade of pink as he tried to make himself small -- an impossible feat, given his height.

 

“Something I can help you with, Detective?” Rafael asked, voice calm and even, as though nothing had happened.

 

“I, erm… I came… I mean…” The tips of Sonny’s ears were growing redder as he spoke. “The paperwork. For the Jones case. That. I need that. Um, please,” Sonny stuttered out, eyes wide.

 

Sonny barely had his hands on the folders before he turned to leave. Carmen threw her boss what she hoped was an apologetic smile before following Sonny out, closing the door behind her.

 

“Barba and… And Langan?” Sonny asked, voice unusually high, as he reached her desk.

 

“Yeah,” she breathed out, biting down the laughter that was still lying just under the surface.

 

“How long?”

 

“A little over a year,” she said with a shrug, smirking at the way Sonny’s mouth dropped open in shock.

 

“A little--“ Sonny broke off with a breath, meeting her eyes properly for the first time.

 

Then suddenly he was laughing, and just behind Barba’s door, she could hear Trevor’s familiar booming laugh too, followed by a hissed, “It’s not funny,” from Barba.

 

“Oh my God,” Sonny groaned, still laughing. “I’m never gonna be able to look at them the same.”

 

“Hey, I have to work here. Every day,” she pointed out, wiping the tears from her eyes as she attempted to get herself under control.

 

“I have to look at them in court,” Sonny countered.

 

“I have to let  _ other _ defense attorneys into that office.”

 

“I’ve  _ sat _ on that desk.”

 

“I have to drop files on that desk. Multiple times a day. And collect them.”

 

Sonny looked down at the folders in his hands, horror creeping into his expression.

 

“Oh, God,” he groaned, half laughing as he shook his head. “Let’s never speak of this again.”

 

Carmen bit back a smirk as she sat back down at her desk, offering him a small wave as he left.

 

“Er, Carmen,” Barba started, forcing her to school her features before turning to look at him, face as neutral as she could manage. “You can take the rest of the day,” he muttered, a faint blush creeping up his neck that she was sure he was trying to hide.

 

“Are you sure, sir?” She asked, barely suppressing the smirk causing her lips to twitch.

 

“Yes, Carmen,” he said forcefully, causing Trevor to laugh behind him.

 

“Thank you, sir,” she said with a small nod, gathering her things without sparing him another glance, lest he saw the full-blown grin on her face.


End file.
